Simply put, word of mouth marketing basically involves getting your customers to do your advertising for you. If you’re new to this approach, here I’ll outline the most important word of mouth marketing tactics to help you out.

2. Research your competition.

Being aware of your competitors is a necessary step to stay ahead of them. You need to understand your industry and the questions or issues plaguing it. It’s important that you determine what your competition has to offer in terms of answers and solutions to those issues.

What can you do to be better than them?

How are they different from you and how can you benefit from this?

Are there any weaknesses you can capitalize on?

By properly analyzing your competitors, you’ll be able to determine what they’re doing right and what mistakes they’re making. This allows you to strengthen your own word-of-mouth marketing tactics.

3. Define your audience.

One of the most important steps to launching successful word-of-mouth marketing tactics is to thoroughly understand your audience. Getting to know your target group will help you determine what they like and don’t like. Then you can build your marketing strategy and services around those preferences.

Verizon’s Idea Exchange community provides an excellent example of how this tactic has been implemented. This platform was developed for Verizon customers to share their ideas and comment or vote on those ideas. Through this community, Verizon has received over 1,500 product ideas, 39 of which have been launched.

I suggest dividing your audience into different “buyer personas” so you can tackle each problem faced by a specific demographic. When you speak to a problem that’s very specific to a niche group, it’ll be as if you’re taking personal care of their issues. That’s a great way to deliver excellent service to your customers and make them more likely to recommend you.

See how Hubspot has divided their audience into different personas, listing the challenges and goals of each type.

4. Embrace exclusivity.

People want what they can’t have and that’s exactly what drives this strategy. Offering exclusive access to your product or service can be an effective method for implementing word of mouth marketing tactics. This has been successfully carried out by sites like Spotify and Gilt Groupe where people can access the service only through an invitation.

When introducing a product or service, consider inviting influencers to try it exclusively instead of making it available for everyone. These influencers can provide valuable feedback and invite their community of fellow influencers to help the product or service go viral.

These recommendations are good word-of-mouth marketing tactics for promoting your product or service. Being exclusive will create a demand for your product or service just from curiosity.

5. Find your uniqueness.

For your brand to become truly noteworthy, there has to be something about you that people will remember. You need to offer something unique that people want to talk about with their friends and family. If you’re just like every other name in your industry, your audience might not even remember you.

Maybe you’re offering a one-of-a-kind product or your company has a quirky work culture. Identify what makes your brand unique and capitalize on that so that people will want to share your story. You could even brainstorm some unique and creative word of mouth marketing tactics that your audience will remember.

6. Build an engaged social community.

This is where knowing your audience plays an important role. You need to understand your target audience to determine where and how they like to communicate online. Perhaps they’re more active on channels like Instagram and Vine than on Twitter. Or maybe Quora appeals more to them than Facebook.

Once you’ve identified the right social media channel to reach out to your audience, start engaging with them. Conduct some research to help you understand how you can speak to them in a manner that feels natural to them. What kind of humor appeals to them? What type of language do they use?

By amplifying their social media efforts, Emerson Salon was able to get more than 13,000 Twitter followers and 1,780 likes on Facebook. The salon shared posts from their blog using Facebook and Twitter, which helped drive traffic to their website.

Also, they kept their customers engaged by asking for feedback and offering discounts while actively replying to messages on their social media accounts. 75% of the salon’s clients come from the Internet.

According to Augure, 75% of marketers consider influencer engagement effective for generating leads. 76% believe it’s effective for building loyalty.

Advertising your brand through influencers is one of the best word-of-mouth marketing tactics. This technique works because you’re reaching out to your audience through people who already have an influence on their purchase decisions.

Influencers could be anyone from bloggers and social media stars to industry leads and existing customers. You don’t necessarily have to stick to your own community when choosing influencers. Look for names that have a huge social media following and engagement rate.

It’s best to pick influencers who are relevant, popular, engaged, and authentic for good word-of-mouth marketing tactics.

An excellent example of this was the hilarious exchange between Taco Bell and Old Spice on Twitter. Although Taco Bell is a well-known fast food name, it had low engagement across all social media channels. Their Twitter campaign also had fewer followers than other big brands.

To build their following and engage, Taco Bell decided to engage with brands that have more than 10,000 followers. Their famous exchange with Old Spice had 603 re-tweets and reached more than 600,000 followers. Their following increased to three times the size of Burger King’s.

8. Add a human touch.

The more people connect with your brand, the more likely they are to recommend you to others. That’s great for your word of mouth marketing tactics. To build a strong connection with your audience, humanize your brand on social media. Let your customers know that they’re interacting with a brand that has personality.

Responding to mentions and comments is a great way to add a human touch in your social interaction. Whether it’s positive or negative, try to be responsive when followers engage with you.

Keeping your followers updated with brand events and product developments is also an excellent way to keep them connected. Cadbury does a great job of establishing a human connection with their audience on Twitter. The brand makes it a point to respond to as many tweets as possible. They quickly respond to both fans showing their appreciation and unhappy customers tweeting about a complaint.

9. Invest in customer experience.

Word of mouth marketing tactics are fuelled by customer recommendations. The best way to get these recommendations is through positive brand experiences. People don’t really talk about an average customer experience. What they do talk about is either a really good experience or a negative one. Going the extra mile can significantly improve your word-of-mouth campaign.

JetBlue is known for its responsiveness to customer queries and issues on Twitter. They respond to complaints or questions from followers, thus creating a positive experience. See an example below of their interaction with a customer, which made her feel important.

10. Reward loyalty.

One of the most effective word of mouth marketing tactics for turning customers into loyal brand advocates is by offering incentives. You could give customers special offers or exclusive content that would make them feel privileged and special. Capitalize on their loyalty by making them want to share their great experience with friends and family.

Hilton provides an excellent example of how providing loyalty rewards encourages recommendations. Hilton rewards its loyal members through its HHonors program with dining perks, free stays, and exclusive concerts. Below you can see how this program is generating positive word of mouth marketing from customers.

Conclusion:

When used correctly, word of mouth marketing tactics can be the most effective tool to promote your brand. You can use them to create awareness about your brand, products, or services among a larger audience. Word-of-mouth marketing tactics will ultimately result in better sales and customer retention. Apply these 10 steps to successfully implement a word-of-mouth approach in your next marketing campaign.

Got any more ideas for great word of mouth marketing tactics? Don’t be shy! Share them in the comments section below.

Shane Barker

Shane Barker is a digital marketing consultant that specializes in sales funnels, targeted traffic and website conversions. He has consulted with Fortune 500 companies, Influencers with digital products, and a number of A-List celebrities.

1 comment

Nice post, Shane! I’m actually a really big fan of your first point– it’s something I geek out about a lot. It’s critically important for consumer brands, but I think it’s also pretty important for B2B brands, software and so on.

When I think about the brands that I have a positive impression of– Moz, HubSpot, Buffer– I also think about their culture and personality, and that goes a longer way than I people realize.

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